PTP sets its date for N4

Tanjung Pelepas will be the largest single terminal to date to convert to N4 yet.

The Port of Tanjung Pelepas has announced that it will upgrade its TOS from Navis SPARCS and Express to Navis N4 on 10 July. With a volume of almost 9 million TEU in 2018 PTP will be the largest single terminal to make the conversion so far.

By now, most of the terminals operating SPARCS and Express around the world have moved to N4, or in some cases another TOS. As PTP notes SPARCS and Express have reached “end of life” and no further enhancements or upgrades area available.

At 9M TEU PTP is a one of the largest single terminal facilities in the world, and a significant “scalability” test for Navis N4. WorldCargo News has discussed the TOS migration with PTP executives previously, who said they wanted to see a similar facility make the transition successfully before committing. TOS migrations carry a risk of operational disruption, and with a single terminal handling a large volume PTP does not have much room for error.

Last year Navis notched a significant milestone when Tianjin became the “largest N4 Terminal Complex by TEU to date”. Tianjin is handling over 15M TEU across six terminals, but they are now consolidated under the Tianjin Port Group, and are all running off one instance of N4.

Source: WorldCargo News

Expansion in Rijeka

ICTSI affiliate Adriatic Gate Container Terminal and the Port of Rijeka Authority are embarking on an expansion programme to allow the Croatian port to cater for 20,000 TEU ships

ICTSI says that in close cooperation with the port authority AGCT has drawn up plans for a two-phase dredging scheme with the first phase fully-approved, entailing the dredging of 130m of quay over its Berths 1 and 2. This will facilitate the berthing of vessels with a LOA of up to 400m. The work will be completed by mid-2020, and will provide 438m of berth with a depth alongside of 15m.

Financing for the infrastructure works has been provided by the EU and the port authority, with ICTSI undertaking all the associated necessary investment in quayside and landside handling systems, as well as increased coverage of the terminal’s IT systems.

The second phase foresees additional dredging alongside the 438m of quay to a depth of 16.5m. Once completed, this project will make AGCT the first terminal in the northern Adriatic able to berth vessels of up to 20,000 TEU capacity, with an LOA of up to 400m and beam of 59m.

The investments are aimed at challenging Koper's status as the leading North Adriatic container gate

“We have decided to do this against a background of steady demand but, more importantly, to keep pace with the requirements of our clients in terms of both ship size and a rise in intermodal rail activity,” said Wojciech Szymulewicz, AGCT chief executive officer.

“The capacity expansion will also deliver an overall boost to efficiency levels at the terminal, building upon the strengths we have already established in terms of vessel and truck turnaround as well as intermodal rail connectivity.”

Complementing these initiatives are new post-NPX cranes with an outreach of at least 24 rows, as part of the berth upgrade; new RTGs and prime movers. Total CY capacity will be increased up to 600,000 TEU per year in line with demand.

Work is also now advanced on upgrading AGCT’s on-dock rail terminal to offer an annual capacity of 360,000 TEU per year. The upgraded rail yard will feature two new RMGs over four rail lines. The upgrade will be completed in Q4 2019.

Regular services operated by rail directly from AGCT include cross border services to Hungary, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and within Croatia to the capital city of Zagreb. With spare capacity in the rail system and a fully liberalized rail market in operation, providing access to private rail operators, AGCT is very confident that working with its shipping line clients and common user operators will continue to extend its market reach and grow the terminal’s rail market share.

Source: WorldCargo News

Bilbao is "first port in the world" to obtain Environmental Product Declaration

Around 50 port community companies have participated in obtaining International EPD certification with assessment from Tecnalia

The Port of Bilbao says that it has become the first port in the world to obtain the Environmental Product Declaration, based on an analysis of the environmental life cycle of port services.

The International EPD certification is the fruit of the collaboration of some 50 companies operating in or using the port. It brings together all the environmental impact derived from the port’s activities and has been assessed by Tecnalia, the centre for technological research and development.

The EPD is a Type III Ecolabel, which consists of a document providing information about the information concerning the environmental impact of the life cycle of a product, process or service.

This information is gathered by following a guide that specifies product category rules (PCR). One of the best known programmes for EPDs, which the port has applied, is the International EPD System, with over 650 EPDs distributed in 32 countries.

The analysis is based on the balance between mass and energy of the system being studied. This enables the relevant entries and exits to assess its environmental impact.

This study commenced in 2016 with complete data from the previous year, 2015. The project’s complexity and the vast amount of data analysed meant that the study was not completed until 2018, with the certificate being awarded in 2019.

The Bilbao team with the new EPD certificate

The following processes identified in the PCR were included in the study: fuel production; raw materials; water consumption; auxiliary materials; construction of the port and buildings; warehouses and lighthouses; dredging; machinery, buildings and vehicle maintenance; fuel consumption of machinery and boilers; electricity consumption; personnel transport and waste collection and treatment.

The conclusions reached were as follows:

• Building materials have the most relevant impact.

• The impact of fuels is also significant in certain category impacts.

• Electricity is the process that most contributes to the total impact.

• Certain emissions due to fuel consumption (CO2 and particularly NOX) are important in determined categories.

• MARPOL V waste and all hydrocarbons are the most relevant environmental features.

Now this impact has been diagnosed and all the areas controlled, the Port of Bilbao has a tool that will enable improvement areas to be detected, and consequently, measures can be taken to reduce environmental impact.

The port authority says it already contributes to impact reduction by taking measures to improve its services, such as:

• Renewal of motor fleet so that vehicles are run by alternative fuels.

• Setting the objective for all the electricity used to proceed from 100% renewable sources.

• Setting high standards for other port companies to assume such initiatives, by among others, signing good practices agreements.

• Taking part in, as up to now, in European projects encouraging the use of cleaner energy for vessels, for example, biofuels and LNG.

• Improving air quality assessment and control systems.

• Advancing in the project undertaken jointly with the Basque Water Agency and the Bilbao Biscay Water Board to reduce to a minimum the points where the Port can discharge into the sea.

• Using 85% of re-used building materials and iron and steel aggregates in the construction of new quays.

Source: WorldCargo News